Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Source: United Boarding Process
We encourage you to make yourself comfortable while you wait for your group to be called, and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for you to board. Late arriving customers in Groups 1 and 2 are welcome to continue boarding through the blue lane at any time.
* Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, except for Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
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Pre Sept 2018 process
Pre-Boarding
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, with the exception of Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
Previous thread: United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [Revised, May 2013]
New changes (effective 18 Sept 2018)
You will see some new boarding lane signs in the gate area that will guide you through the boarding process. There will now be two lanes that are color coded : to begin, Group 1 will board through the blue lane and Group 2 will board through the green lane. The remaining Groups 3-5 will then board through the green lane when called, and Groups 1 and 2 can continue to board through the blue lane .We encourage you to make yourself comfortable while you wait for your group to be called, and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for you to board. Late arriving customers in Groups 1 and 2 are welcome to continue boarding through the blue lane at any time.
Boarding groups
Pre-boarding
- Unaccompanied minors
- Customers with disabilities
- Active members of the military
- United Global Services® members
- Families traveling with children age 2 and younger
- Premier® 1K® members
Group 1
- Premier Platinum members
- Premier Gold members
- Star Alliance™ Gold members
- Customers seated in premium cabins: United Polaris®, United First® and United Business®
Group 2
- Premier Silver members
- Star Alliance Silver members
- Customers who have purchased Premier Access® or Priority Boarding
- United℠ Explorer, Club, Presidential Plus℠ and Awards Cardmembers
Groups 3 – 5
- Economy Plus®
- United Economy®
- Basic Economy*
* Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, except for Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Pre Sept 2018 process
Pre-Boarding
- Unaccompanied minors
- Customers with disabilities
- Uniformed members of the U.S. military
- Families traveling with children age two and younger
- United Global Services® members
- Group 1: Premier 1K, Premier Platinum, Business/Polaris Business, and First/Polaris First.
- Group 2: Premier Gold, Star Gold, Premier Silver, Star Silver, MileagePlus Presidential Plus, Club, Explorer and Awards, purchased Premier Access
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
- Group 3 - Window Seats
- Group 4 - Middle & Aisle Seats (Aisle Seats on UA Express)
- Group 5 - Basic Economy
Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, with the exception of Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
- IAH - Gate C25/C26 - See Post 2960, Includes YouTube video from CO777DAL
- IAH - Gate E4 - Old test from pmCO days, See Thread Here
- BOS - Self boarding gates are now back in *LIMITED* use at least at gates B25 and B26
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
Previous thread: United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [Revised, May 2013]
United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [2016-forward]{Archive}
#1456
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,590
They seemed to be doing it EWR-LAX on sunday and it didn't seem to go badly. I was surprised that there didn't seem to be a mass of group 3/4/5 people hovering around the edges of the two lines.
Boarding earlier in the day at TXL they just called each group one by one to the buses (and individually got the people needing assistance that they'd identified earlier - no signs or anything. There were group 3 people basically standing and blocking the narrow space to get to the bus walkway all through groups 1 & 2.
Boarding earlier in the day at TXL they just called each group one by one to the buses (and individually got the people needing assistance that they'd identified earlier - no signs or anything. There were group 3 people basically standing and blocking the narrow space to get to the bus walkway all through groups 1 & 2.
#1457
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton ♦ , Hyatt Carbonado, Wyndham ♦, Marriott PE, "Stinking Bum" elsewhere.
Posts: 4,985
I almost always get them to bring me something from the back, snack-wise, instead of a meal. Usually, I go for the Haribo Gold-Bears.
#1458
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Global Services 1MM,, AA Exec Plat. Hilton Honors Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 605
On heavy elite flights, you’ll see 30 GS/1K hovering next to the Group 1 lane.
I perceive this as being a quasi GS devaluation. The benefit of GS pre boarding was the convenience of boarding seamlessly to the side of group 1. If there are now suddenly several 1K’s waiting too, it’s gong to be harder to pre board without major congestion.
I perceive this as being a quasi GS devaluation. The benefit of GS pre boarding was the convenience of boarding seamlessly to the side of group 1. If there are now suddenly several 1K’s waiting too, it’s gong to be harder to pre board without major congestion.
#1459
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Portland, OR, USA
Programs: UA 1K 3 Million/ex-many year GS, AA PLT/2 Mil, AS MVPG, HH Dia, Starwood Life Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,401
I've pointed out for years in these discussions that what most people miss is the psychology of the system. If you create physical lines with signs that say "group 3 here" then people will get in those lines very early and once a few people have done that others feel that they had better join the group or be left to the end. Those extra line up areas basically cry out "please crowd up here". Getting rid of the extra lines really is the key. With no designated spot to line up many fewer people will crowd to the gate because they don't know where to actually go crowd. The issue with UA (since the PM systems were replaced) has never been the number of groups - it has been the number of designated lines. With 2 lines (now and in PMUA days) you have one bypass line (no one lines up there except BG1 at the start) and one real line (where everyone else lines up but it makes no sense to line up when others have to go in front of you). Net is that you get less lining up. This actually worked pretty well in the PMUA days and ultimately (once you retrain all the BG3+ folks) it will likely work pretty well now. The mistake I do think UA is making with the new system is not creating a BG0 with GS/1K (and yes probably F) in it and starting that in the green line and BG1 in the blue line. Preboarding requires folks to make their way around the line structure which depending upon the gate can be awkward and there are probably enough GS/1K to sometimes make that troublesome. And truthfully it would make no difference at all except for ego to mix GS/1K/F into a single group domestically. There aren't enough of these folks in total to create legitimate baggage storage issues. Plus it would once and for all end the 3 second window for preboarding that some GAs seem to use that gives no one a chance to do anything.
#1460
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Programs: UA 1K 1MMer & LT UC (when flying UA); Hyatt Credit Cardist; HHonors Diamond; Marriott Gold via UA 1K
Posts: 6,955
Some of those 1K's may have been SFO-based, who flew down to LA to increase their upgrade chances to SIN.
I'm thankful that I won't be flying during the first few days of this. I should have enough Flyertalk data by the time I board my next flight (on the 28th) to determine whether or not I should join the pre-boarding scrum on the sidelines, or queue up in the first boarding lane.
#1461
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 14,991
#1462
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,406
Yes, exactly
This was a flight where the inventory invited GPU expenditure.
Yes it's a blow to ego dressed up as something else.
This was a flight where the inventory invited GPU expenditure.
Yes it's a blow to ego dressed up as something else.
#1463
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bay Area - East Bay
Programs: UA 1k, AS 75k, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 637
It seems this whole thing is just a compression of elites and premium passengers into BG0 and BG1. It kind of defeats the purpose of having boarding groups in the first place, and the effect is worst on the largest mainline flights when you really need a process that feeds people onto the plane in a steady fashion. I have an SFO-IAD flight later this week, followed by SFO-EWR and SFO-ORD the week after (no wonder I never get CPUed, do I ever fly non hub-hub?!), I'm going to make sure to bring the popcorn for the BOARDING THROWDOWN. Also, making sure I'm in a non-bulkhead for each flight (this is kind of sad, I love the bulkhead, but I'm not trusting enough to stow my backpack w/ laptop anywhere I can't see people messing around in the bin)
#1464
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,343
I got an email 2 weeks ago from United which explained this............. except........ it also added boarding by Window seat and middle seat........... I guess they dropped that part of the change?
The issue I would see with this method is the fight for bin space means all WINDOW seat passengers get first dibs at the bins.
The issue I would see with this method is the fight for bin space means all WINDOW seat passengers get first dibs at the bins.
#1465
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LAS, ZQN
Programs: UA PP (2MM), BA gold
Posts: 2,195
An interesting issue- I have OZ award ticket in biz where unable to change FF# to UA. Will be Zone 1 on domestic flight but will not show 1K. Called UA and they are unable to change FF#. Will use my UA MP card and see if they look at me odd/throw my out of the pre-board.
#1466
Moderator: Midwest, Las Vegas & Dining Buzz
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Posts: 17,970
I spoke with the GS manager at ORD on Tuesday and mentioned the concerns that are posted here. He agreed that it will come down to training whereby the agents are supposed to pause between the groups instead of bunching them all together (which we all have witnessed). I asked him to go to some gates and witness what happens and he agreed to do so. (I'll get a report next week when I see him.)
He also said that he has daily meetings with the supervisors who are in charge of various gate sections of the terminal (e.g. C-20-32) and will alert them to the issues and ensure the agents do what they are supposed to.
I will call GS customer service each and every time that the procedure is not followed. They "gots to know" and do something about it. The more complaints, the more they will act.
He also said that he has daily meetings with the supervisors who are in charge of various gate sections of the terminal (e.g. C-20-32) and will alert them to the issues and ensure the agents do what they are supposed to.
I will call GS customer service each and every time that the procedure is not followed. They "gots to know" and do something about it. The more complaints, the more they will act.
#1467
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Montréal, Canada
Posts: 1,610
I've taken three flights since the 18th, flying from YUL, EWR and IAH. The GA's all followed the official protocol, calling out the pre-board groups one by one. In both YUL and IAH, I was the only 1K. In EWR, on a 767 wide body flight to IAH, there were only four, which shocked me.
#1468
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
I've taken three flights since the 18th, flying from YUL, EWR and IAH. The GA's all followed the official protocol, calling out the pre-board groups one by one. In both YUL and IAH, I was the only 1K. In EWR, on a 767 wide body flight to IAH, there were only four, which shocked me.
I do like the perk though if I were to choose to use it - I do think 1K's are far more valuable to UA than non-1K's sitting in FC/Biz. I'm sure the kinks will get worked on the Pre-board announcements so GS can board first consistently if that is what they want to do. With change, it is rarely perfect immediately.
#1469
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 14,991
I've taken three flights since the 18th, flying from YUL, EWR and IAH. The GA's all followed the official protocol, calling out the pre-board groups one by one. In both YUL and IAH, I was the only 1K. In EWR, on a 767 wide body flight to IAH, there were only four, which shocked me.
#1470
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,381
And I'm surprised at the people who say they've never been forced to gate-check in F. I fly UA much less than most people in this thread, and yet I was once turned away on ORD-SFO at the aircraft door because there was absolutely no room left for bags, and I'd have to check mine. I walked back up to the podium, told them I was not going to check my bag, and to offload me and move me to the next flight (which I knew was about an hour later). This was after a mechanical delay on my inbound caused me to arrive halfway through group 5 boarding, so not the same scenario as I describe above, but they can certainly run out of bin space for F pax on narrow-bodies. And yes, I had reasons to not separate from that bag, beyond the normal risk of damage, loss, delay, or waiting 45 minutes at the other end.
Bottom line though, I am skeptical that the change in BG1 inclusion will have a significant impact on how often your bag gets up. IME the blend of late-boarding F pax, some FAs who police the bins, and the fact that half the plane is boarding after you usually leads to some bin space.
I flew an EWR-SFO with 22 GS. Pretty sure there were at least 20 more 1Ks